Spam Spam Spam Humbug chats with Starr Long about Shroud of the Avatar's Release 32, its now-persistent world, and the land rush that players have been participating in over the last couple weeks.

Co-Producers

This episode of Spam Spam Spam Humbug is brought to you by our Patreon backers; thank you to everyone who supports Spam Spam Spam Humbug and the Ultima Codex by that means. And, as always, a hearty thank you to our Patreon co-producers: Seth, Johnny, Dominik, Chris, Violation, Adam, Erik, Thorwan, Cody, Pascal, Neil, and Helgraf.

Shout-Outs

Enlightenment Dragon, who left a lengthy and insightful comment on the Episode 43 article — that was the episode about making a new Ultima — on the Ultima Codex. It's a very long comment, so it's fortunate that he left a summary of it as well.

Withstand the Fury's daughter, here referred to only as Kidlet #1, for acing her first boss fight in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Podcast Topic(s)

Part A:Spam Spam Spam Humbugchats with Starr Long, the Executive Producer of Shroud of the Avatar, about Release 32, the now-persistent game world, and the ongoing land rush as players race to claim lots and place their homes throughout Novia. Other topics come up as well: we discuss the combat system in the game, the difference between crafting features and interactivity features, and more!

Part B: The Spam Spam Spam Humbug community sit down to discuss Shroud of the Avatar in the wake of Release 32, the persistent world, and the land rush.

This, by the way, is the animated GIF of Novia, the setting of Shroud of the Avatar, that gets referenced toward the end of the discussion.

Frozenbyte Unveil Co-Op Wizardry in Nine Parchments - “Frozenbyte [the developers of the Trine series]...have unveiled their latest project: a 3D isometric, co-op “blast’em up” in Nine Parchments. Those famiilar with four-player magic-based action-adventure titles may call similarities with Arrowhead Game Studio & Paradox Interactive’s successful Magicka games and on the surface, there’s a certain degree of familiarity to be felt. However, Frozenbyte are hoping to stand tall on their own merits with a game boasting 'a crazy amount of different spells' set within a roguelike world with randomly generated monsters and unlockable characters/items to acquire. The game is currently in development and is currently planned for release across PS4, Xbox One & PC sometime in 2017.”

Oceanhorn Sets Sail On Consoles - “Oceanhorn will be setting sail on consoles next month and a new trailer is here to show off the breathtaking seas players will explore all in good time. There’s also a special treat at the tail end of the trailer so be sure to watch it through. This game is so clearly inspired by action adventure games like The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker and is already available on Steam and iOS devices [it began as a mobile game, in fact]. You’ll explore the islands of Uncharted Seas brimming with puzzles, secrets and monsters guarding ancient treasures all in a quest to uncover the titular sea monster...Nobuo Uematsu of Final Fantasy fame contributed beautiful music to this carefully crafted love letter.”

Mass Effect Series to be Remastered? - “While this article on GameInformer doesn't provide a confirmation of any kind, they offer reasonable evidence from a conversation with EA's Patrick Soderlund at this week's Gamescom to think that the publisher (and BioWare, of course) may be planning to re-release the original Mass Effect trilogy in remastered form for modern consoles.”